This invention relates generally to movable barrier operators for operating movable barriers or doors. More particularly, it relates to garage door operators having improved safety and energy efficiency features.
Garage door operators have become more sophisticated over the years providing users with increased convenience and security. However, users continue to desire further improvements and new features such as increased energy efficiency, ease of installation, automatic configuration, and aesthetic features, such as quiet, smooth operation.
In some markets energy costs are significant. Thus energy efficiency options such as lower horsepower motors and user control over the worklight functions are important to garage door operator owners. For example, most garage door operators have a worklight which turns on when the operator is commanded to move the door and shuts off a fixed period of time after the door stops. In the United States, an illumination period of 4xc2xd minutes is considered adequate. In markets outside the United States, 4xc2xd minutes is considered too long. Some garage door operators have special safety features, for example, which enable the worklight whenever the obstacle detection beam is broken by an intruder passing through an open garage door. Some users may wish to disable the worklight in this situation. There is a need for a garage door operator which can be automatically configured for predefined energy saving features, such as worklight shut-off time.
Some movable barrier operators include a flasher module which causes a small light to flash or blink whenever the barrier is commanded to move. The flasher module provides some warning when the barrier is moving. There is a need for an improved flasher unit which provides even greater warning to the user when the barrier is commanded to move.
Another feature desired in many markets is a smooth, quiet motor and transmission. Most garage door operators have AC motors because they are less expensive than DC motors. However, AC motors are generally noisier than DC motors.
Most garage door operators employ only one or two speeds of travel. Single speed operation, i.e., the motor immediately ramps up to full operating speed, can create a jarring start to the door. Then during closing, when the door approaches the floor at full operating speed, whether a DC or AC motor is used, the door closes abruptly with a high amount of tension on it from the inertia of the system. This jarring is hard on the transmission and the door and is annoying to the user.
If two operating speeds are used, the motor would be started at a slow speed, usually 20 percent of full operating speed, then after a fixed period of time, the motor speed would increase to full operating speed. Similarly, when the door reaches a fixed point above/below the close/open limit, the operator would decrease the motor speed to 20 percent of the maximum operating speed. While this two speed operation may eliminate some of the hard starts and stops, the speed changes can be noisy and do not occur smoothly, causing stress on the transmission. There is a need for a garage door operator which opens the door smoothly and quietly, with no aburptly apparent sign of speed change during operation.
Garage doors come in many types and sizes and thus different travel speeds are required for them. For example, a one-piece door will be movable through a shorter total travel distance and need to travel slower for safety reasons than a segmented door with a longer total travel distance. To accommodate the two door types, many garage door operators include two sprockets for driving the transmission. At installation, the installer must determine what type of door is to be driven, then select the appropriate sprocket to attach to the transmission. This takes additional time and if the installer is the user, may require several attempts before matching the correct sprocket for the door. There is a need for a garage door operator which automatically configures travel speed depending on size and weight of the door.
National safety standards dictate that a garage door operator perform a safety reversal (auto-reverse) when an object is detected only one inch above the DOWN limit or floor. To satisfy these safety requirements, most garage door operators include an obstacle detection system, located near the bottom of the door travel. This prevents the door from closing on objects or persons that may be in the door path. Such obstacle detection systems often include an infrared source and detector located on opposite sides of the door frame. The obstacle detector sends a signal when the infrared beam between the source and detector is broken, indicating an obstacle is detected. In response to the obstacle signal, the operator causes an automatic safety reversal. The door stops and begins traveling up, away from the obstacle.
There are two different xe2x80x9cforcesxe2x80x9d used in the operation of the garage door operator. The first xe2x80x9cforcexe2x80x9d is usually preset or setable at two force levels: the UP force level setting used to determine the speed at which the door travels in the UP direction and the DOWN force level setting used to determine the speed at which the door travels in the DOWN direction. The second xe2x80x9cforcexe2x80x9d is the force level determined by the decrease in motor speed due to an external force applied to the door, i.e., from an obstacle or the floor. This external force level is also preset or setable and is any set-point type force against which the feedback force signal is compared. When the system determines the set point force has been met, an auto-reverse or stop is commanded.
To overcome differences in door installations, i.e. stickiness and resistance to movement and other varying frictional-type forces, some garage door operators permit the maximum force (the second force) used to drive the speed of travel to be varied manually. This, however, affects the system""s auto-reverse operation based on force. The auto-reverse system based on force initiates an auto-reverse if the force on the door exceeds the maximum force setting (the second force) by some predetermined amount. If the user increases the force setting to drive the door through a xe2x80x9cstickyxe2x80x9d section of travel, the user may inadvertently affect the force to a much greater value than is safe for the unit to operate during normal use. For example, if the DOWN force setting is set so high that it is only a small incremental value less than the force setting which initiates an auto-reverse due to force, this causes the door to engage objects at a higher speed before reaching the auto-reverse force setting. While the obstacle detection system will cause the door to auto-reverse, the speed and force at which the door hits the obstacle may cause harm to the obstacle and/or the door.
Barrier movement operators should perform a safety reversal off an obstruction which is only marginally higher than the floor, yet still close the door safely against the floor. In operator systems where the door moves at a high speed, the relatively large momentum of the moving parts, including the door, accomplishes complete closure. In systems with a soft closure, where the door speed decreases from full maximum to a small percentage of full maximum when closing, there may be insufficient momentum in the door or system to accomplish a full closure. For example, even if the door is positioned at the floor, there is sometimes sufficient play in the trolley of the operator to-allow the door to move if the user were to try to open it. In particular, in systems employing a DC motor, when the DC motor is shut off, it becomes a dynamic brake. If the door isn""t quite at the floor when the DOWN travel limit is reached and the DC motor is shut off, the door and associated moving parts may not have sufficient momentum to overcome the braking force of the DC motor. There is a need for a garage door operator which closes the door completely, eliminating play in the door after closure.
Many garage door operator installations are made to existing garage doors. The amount of force needed to drive the door varies depending on type of door and the quality of the door frame and installation. As a result, some doors are xe2x80x9cstickierxe2x80x9d than others, requiring greater force to move them through the entire length of travel. If the door is started and stopped using the full operating speed, stickiness is not usually a problem. However, if the garage door operator is capable of operation at two speeds, stickiness becomes a larger problem at the lower speed. In some installations, a force sufficient to run at 20 percent of normal speed is too small to start some doors moving. There is a need for a garage door operator which automatically controls force output and thus start and stop speeds.
A movable barrier operator having an electric motor for driving a garage door, a gate or other barrier is operated from a source of AC current. The movable barrier operator includes circuitry for automatically detecting the incoming AC line voltage and frequency of the alternating current. By automatically detecting the incoming AC line voltage and determining the frequency, the operator can automatically configure itself to certain user preferences. This occurs without either the user or the installer having to adjust or program the operator. The movable barrier operator includes a worklight for illuminating its immediate surroundings such as the interior of a garage. The barrier operator senses the power line frequency (typically 50 Hz or 60 Hz) to automatically set an appropriate shut-off time for a worklight. Because the power line frequency in Europe is 50 Hz and in the U.S. is 60 Hz, sensing the power line frequency enables the operator to configure itself for either a European or a U.S. market with no user or installer modifications. For U.S. users, the worklight shut-off time is set to preferably 4xc2xd minutes; for European users, the worklight shut-off time is set to preferably 2xc2xd minutes. Thus, a single barrier movement operator can be sold in two different markets with automatic setup, saving installation time.
The movable barrier operator of the present invention automatically detects if an optional flasher module is present. If the module is present, when the door is commanded to move, the operator causes the flasher module to operate. With the flasher module present, the operator also delays operation of the motor for a brief period, say one or two seconds. This delay period with the flasher module blinking before door movement provides an added safety feature to users which warns them of impending door travel (e.g. if activated by an unseen transmitter).
The movable barrier operator of the present invention drives the barrier, which may be a door or a gate, at a variable speed. After motor start, the electric motor reaches a preferred initial speed of 20 percent of the full operating speed. The motor speed then increases slowly in a linearly continuous fashion from 20 percent to 100 percent of full operating speed. This provides a smooth, soft start without jarring the transmission or the door or gate. The motor moves the barrier at maximum speed for the largest portion of its travel, after which the operator slowly decreases speed from 100 percent to 20 percent as the barrier approaches the limit of travel, providing a soft, smooth and quiet stop. A slow, smooth start and stop provides a safer barrier movement operator for the user because there is less momentum to apply an impulse force in the event of an obstruction. In a fast system, relatively high momentum of the door changes to zero at the obstruction before the system can actually detect the obstruction. This leads to the application of a high impulse force. With the system of the invention, a slower stop speed means the system has less momentum to overcome, and therefore a softer, more forgiving force reversal. A slow, smooth start and stop also provide a more aesthetically pleasing effect to the user, and when coupled with a quieter DC motor, a barrier movement operator which operates very quietly.
The operator includes two relays and a pair of field effect transistors (FETs) for controlling the motor. The relays are used to control direction of travel. The FET""s, with phase controlled, pulse width modulation, control start up and speed. Speed is responsive to the duration of the pulses applied to the FETs. A longer pulse causes the FETs to be on longer causing the barrier speed to increase. Shorter pulses result in a slower speed. This provides a very fine ramp control and more gentle starts and stops.
The movable barrier operator provides for the automatic measurement and calculation of the total distance the door is to travel. The total door travel distance is the distance between the UP and the DOWN limits (which depend on the type of door). The automatic measurement of door travel distance is a measure of the length of the door. Since shorter doors must travel at slower speeds than normal doors (for safety reasons), this enables the operator to automatically adjust the motor speed so the speed of door travel is the same regardless of door size. The total door travel distance in turn determines the maximum speed at which the operator will travel. By determining the total distance traveled, travel speeds can be automatically changed without having to modify the hardware.
The movable barrier operator provides full door or gate closure, i.e. a firm closure of the door to the floor so that the door is not movable in place after it stops. The operator includes a digital control or processor, specifically a microcontroller which has an internal microprocessor, an internal RAM and an internal ROM and an external EEPROM. The microcontroller executes instructions stored in its internal ROM and provides motor direction control signals to the relays and speed control signals to the FETs. The operator is first operated in a learn mode to store a DOWN limit position for the door. The DOWN limit position of the door is used as an approximation of the location of the floor (or as a minimum reversal point, below which no auto-reverse will occur). When the door reaches the DOWN limit position, the microcontroller causes the electric motor to drive the door past the DOWN limit a small distance, say for one or two inches. This causes the door to close solidly on the floor.
The operator embodying the present invention provides variable door or gate output speed, i.e., the user can vary the minimum speed at which the motor starts and stops the door. This enables the user to overcome differences in door installations, i.e. stickiness and resistance to movement and other varying functional-type forces. The minimum barrier speeds in the UP and DOWN directions are determined by the user-configured force settings, which are adjusted using UP and DOWN force potentiometers. The force potentiometers set the lengths of the pulses to the FETs, which translate to variable speeds. The user gains a greater force output and a higher minimum starting speed to overcome differences in door installations, i.e. stickiness and resistance to movement and other varying functional-type forces speed, without affecting the maximum speed of travel for the door. The user can configure the door to start at a speed greater than a default value, say 20 percent. This greater start up and slow down speed is transferred to the linearly variable speed function in that instead of traveling at 20 percent speed, increasing to 100 percent speed, then decreasing to 20 percent speed, the door may, for instance, travel at 40 percent speed to 100 percent speed and back down to 40 percent speed.